Suit designed by Irene from EASTER PARADE, MGM, 1948

Judy wore this gown, designed by Helen Rose in "Words and Music", 1948

Helen Rose

Below are the gowns Judy wore in "Words and Music", on the left is the "Johnny One Note", from the Charles Triplett collection, right, "I Wish I Were In Love Again", from the Michael Siewert collection:

Below, the "Johnny One Note" gown at the MGM auction in 1970

Walter Plunkett

Judy wore these overalls, designed by Walter Plunkett, in SUMMER STOCK, 1950

Original One Sheet movie posters

Other rare Garland items

This is a letter written by Judy in 1938 and sent to IDA KOVERMAN, who was Mr. Mayer's executive secretary at MGM and one of Judy's earliest champions at the studio. It was written while Judy was in Cleveland on a personal appearance tour to publicize EVERYBODY SING. One of the great things about it is that it represents Judy as the 15 year old girl she was, still fresh and relatively carefree ... and it also expresses her obvious affection for "Mrs Kay".

Judy and "Mrs. Kay", 1937/38

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﻿﻿﻿Vintage original 11 by 14 portrait photograph by Beverly Hills "photographer to the stars", JOHN ENGSTEAD (1909-1983). Mr Engstead photographed Judy many times beginning in 1942 and was responsible for most of the finest studio portraits of Judy taken outside of the M-G-M studio gallery. Judy used his portraits for most of her publicity from the period of about 1952 through 1962.

Judy signed this portrait for collector Wayne Martin (1912-1993) in the early 1960s.

This portrait was one of Wayne Martin's prized possessions.

Self-proclaimed as "Judy's Number One Fan", Wayne called his collection "Garlandia"

Judy and Wayne at the Gulf Screen Guild Theatre Radio Broadcast of "Easter Parade" on March 22, 1951

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Letter Judy wrote to Leonard Gershe, her "A Star is Born" lyricist on March 27, 1961 on monogramed personal stationery letterhead and envelope

Mr. Gershe

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Signed check dated 11-2963

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Original tickets from the CBS Television series, Radio, and concerts

"RELICS"

A JOURNEY THROUGH THE CHARLES TRIPLETT COLLECTION

presented by

The Judy Garland Experience

2012

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Charles Triplett, longtime member and friend of The Judy Garland Experience, has consented to periodically share special items from his collection in a journal here on The Experience. His extensive collection includes vintage materials of all kinds -- most notably costumes and accessories from Judy's M-G-M films, wardrobe from her CBS-TV series, and her personal couture.. Charles is a careful preservationist, and does not publicly exhibit these items out of concern for their care and longevity. In this series we will have an unprecedented view into many of the rare and wonderful things he has collected.

RELICS -- The Meet Me In St Louis Party Dress

The Meet Me In St Louis party dress, designed by Irene Sharaff, has always been my favorite MGM Garland costume. Ever since the first time I saw Meet Me In St Louis in the early 1970's I was very taken with the costume and thought Judy looked so beautiful in it. For me it was the quintessential movie musical costume.

The Party Dress and scene in which Judy wore it was obviously considered to be an important part of the promotional campaign used to market Meet Me In St Louis. Images from this scene were used not only on the half-sheet poster and on one of the lobby cards, but also on numerous 8x10 stills from the party scene and cakewalk dance.

As I did more research and study of Judy Garland's career I became aware of the fact that this costume had been sold at the 1970 MGM auction and purchased by Debbie Reynolds. Many years later when I was helping her son, Todd Fisher, identify several Garland costumes I brought up the party dress and told him it was my favorite Garland costume. He replied that it was also his mother's favorite Garland costume and that he knew she would never part with it. With that statement I knew I would never even get a chance to own it although around 2007 she and Todd Fisher did offer it to a collector for $200,000.

In the intervening years Miss Reynolds' dream of a museum was never to be and in 2011 she decided to sell her collection. Movie fans and costume collectors all knew this would be the sale of the century. The handful of Garland costume collectors knew of my interest in the piece and graciously allowed me to bid without any competition from them.

The auction took 12 hours and most of the prices were astronomical but luckily for me I was able to acquire the party dress for just slightly over the estimate. It was the "icing on the cake" for the Judy Garland Charles Triplett Collection. The 3 major Judy Garland costume collectors were, I think, just as thrilled as I was that I was able to get it.

The dress is made of wool crepe and has three elements: the jacket, blouse, and skirt. The silk blouse is attached to the skirt. The careful detailing on this garment is a great part of its charm ... it has not only some beautifully applied design elements, but also the over 300 original silk tassels. Each tassel is finished with a florette at the bottom instead of loose fringe, and all the original tassels remain on the garment. Miss Garland's name is inscribed inside both the jacket and the skirt.

Miss Reynolds had taken great care of the costume and it was in very nice stable condition. The bright blue color seen with the Technicolor camera had faded, however this is very common for bright blue dye that is 70 years old. The costume today still holds the magic and beauty that Irene Sharaff and Vincente Minnelli envisioned. So when you watch the movie please know that the costume is safe and sound in acid free storage in North Carolina.

I would like to publicly thank Daniel for asking me to do this series of articles on items from my collection. I hope he knows how much I sincerely appreciate his faith in me He really felt I had something worthwhile and of interest to share. . Also I would like to thank Tom Larro and David Price for their invaluable input on this 6 month project. Because of limitations on my time I have decided to make this my final installment of Relics.

Editor's Note: We at TJGE feel privileged that Charles Triplett agreed to share these looks into his legendary collection with us. His participation has made this blog a better one, and now that he has raised the bar for us we hope to meet it and exceed it as we go forward.

And although we knew the RELICS series was going to be a limited one, it is with a heavy heart that we publish it's final edition.

But no worries for the Charles Triplett fans, as Mr. Triplett will continue to share photos and occasional reportage on this blog. In fact, he recently approached your editor with an idea for a story and photo layout that will excite Garland an Oz fans alike.

We thank you, Charles Triplett, for what you have done, and for what you continue to do for The Judy Garland Experience and for the entire Judy Garland fan/collector community.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Charles Triplett, longtime member and friend of The Judy Garland Experience, has consented to periodically share special items from his collection in a journal here on The Experience. His extensive collection includes vintage materials of all kinds -- most notably costumes and accessories from Judy's M-G-M films, wardrobe from her CBS-TV series, and her personal couture.. Charles is a careful preservationist, and does not publicly exhibit these items out of concern for their care and longevity. In this series we will have an unprecedented view into many of the rare and wonderful things he has collected.

Journal Entry #3: The Battle Hymn Gown

At this point there is no need for me to describe or recount Judy Garland's legendary performance of THE BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC on her television show, 12-13-63, in tribute to President John F. Kennedy. It was one of the high points of her series and well remembered by fandom. Hardly any discussion of THE JUDY GARLAND SHOW can be complete without mention of this performance. As I tell anyone and everyone who has an interest in the TV Series please refer to Mr. Steve Sander's tome. I do feel that Mr. Aghayan did more for her as a designer than anyone else in her career. Most everything he did for her could even be worn today. The gown Judy wore that night was of red silk incrusted with sequins, bugle beads, faux pearls and jewels. Designed by Ray Aghayan and made at Elizabeth Courtney costumes it is one of the most stunning gowns I have seen from the series. Judy kept it with her for years only to have it fall out of her possession during the trouble with her bill at the St. Moritz hotel in NYC in 1968. My dearest Michael Siewert and I were able to acquire it and several other pieces in the very early 2000s. It will always be remembered by us as the greatest "miracle" during our many years of collecting together. An unbelievable story. I treasure the gown as one of the signature pieces in my collection. It's one of the most iconic relics from her Television series and maybe her entire career. As far as the value goes, to me and I am sure to all of us here it is priceless. For the record the last JUDY GARLAND SHOW Ray Aghayan gown sold for $45,000 several years ago. At this point I know of only six gowns from the TV series, Tom Larro owns the "Criss Cross" gown, George Dalzell owns the Show 26 gown, Michael Siewert owns the "Movie Concert" gown. an anonymous lady in California owns the "Poppy gown" and I own the "Battle Hymn and zebra gown.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Charles Triplett, longtime member and friend of The Judy Garland Experience, has consented to periodically share special items from his collection in a journal here on The Experience. His extensive collection includes vintage materials of all kinds -- most notably costumes and accessories from Judy's M-G-M films, wardrobe from her CBS-TV series, and her personal couture.. Charles is a careful preservationist, and does not publicly exhibit these items out of concern for their care and longevity. In this series we will have an unprecedented view into many of the rare and wonderful things he has collected.Journal entry # 2: The Judy Garland/Dorothy Gale Movie Life

In the world of serious Judy Garland collectors, (and in this case WIZARD OF OZ collectors also), MOVIE LIFE, August, 1939 is the "holy grail" of Judy Garland cover magazines. It's the only movie magazine of the era of the movie's release that has Miss Garland on the cover as "Dorothy". MOVIE LIFE was early in it's publication and was not as widely circulated as say PHOTOPLAY or MOVIE MIRROR.

For me finding a near mint copy has taken 30 years. I had almost given up on the search until last year when a Garland collector decided to sell their copy to me.

A copy in this condition, (considering the market), is valued between $500 to $1,000.

On a side note my good friend Jay Goede, Broadway singer/actor, artist and Garland fan did a wonderful portrait painting several years ago based on the cover photo. I am very happy to have this work of art in my collection.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Charles Triplett, longtime member and friend of The Judy Garland Experience, has consented to periodically share special items from his collection in a journal here on The Experience. His extensive collection includes vintage materials of all kinds -- most notably costumes and accessories from Judy's M-G-M films, wardrobe from her CBS-TV series, and her personal couture.. Charles is a careful preservationist, and does not publicly exhibit these items out of concern for their care and longevity. In this series we will have an unprecedented view into many of the rare and wonderful things he has collected.

Journal Entry #1: The Ferragamos

As I have said to my good and great friend, Tom Larro, many times - oh, how I wish I could go back to November of 1978 to attend the infamous JUDY GARLAND MEMORABILIA AND ART AUCTION. It made headlines even in my local small town North Carolina paper but at 18 with no money it was way out of my range. I did get the auction catalog which sold at the time for $25.

I was very intrigued with the wardrobe and shoes. There were a dozen couture items, several from THE JUDY GARLAND SHOW, and personal couture as well. There were nearly two dozen pair of Salvatore Ferragamo shoes. Even at that early age I knew that these shoes were made by the famous Italian shoe maker who had done custom made shoes for Jackie Kennedy, the Duchess of Windsor and Marilyn Monroe. These shoes were all custom made for each client and Judy had two dozen in a rainbow of colors. They were all listed as size 6 and half but were more like a US five and custom made to Miss Garland's very slim foot. All were pumps with a four inch spike heel.

Several years later in the mid 1980s I saw an ad in HOLLYWOOD STUDIO MAGAZINE advertising a pair of black pumps from the auction. I immediately wrote to the lady, Alice Garza, only to receive a note back saying they were sold.

Nearly 25 years later a pair of beautiful black silk-covered Ferragamos with ornament came up on the auction block. They were from the 1978 auction and had the original auction receipt, item # 113G. The bidding was furious, but I was able to win them. I had no idea until I received them that they were in fact the pair that were offered nearly 25 years before by the lady in HOLLYWOOD STUDIO MAGAZINE. Her name was on the receipt.

Judy's Ferragamos are one of the favorite items in my collection. I know of only three other pair in fans' hands and sometimes wonder where all those others are.